Lead generation companies turning into Brokers
Posted by Pat Kitano at 9/6/2006 9:24 PM 
Categories: Technology, New Business Models, Realty Realities, Lead Generation
Categories: Technology, New Business Models, Realty Realities, Lead Generation
Yesterday's Inman blog referred to a post by Andy Denton showing a picture of a House.com for sale sign advertising for hiring agents ( a posted comment implies that House.com has not yet implemented this strategy). RealEstate.com has taken the same route transforming to a brokerage. This lead leveraging creates a new breed of dot-com brokerages that seem poised to try to out-market the traditional shops like ReMax. Their obvious disadvantage is lack of presence on a community level which I assume they will try to overcome with on-the-ground agent presence, similar to the ir existing business model of selling their lead to a local agent, but branded to their name.
The dilemma that comes to mind is the confusion factor that the consumer now faces every time they fill in an online home search, valuation or loan tool. Richard Johnston, an LA Realtor, in a comment confirms the premise of the previous post - so many venues for home search have different underlying agendas that the consumer is not aware of. Teresa Boardman's blog consistently underscores how Realtors do not appreciate the lead generation companies carving out a part of their commission.
Despite the confusion, there is no stopping the consumer from checking the various real estate sites... and now the marketing gurus who understand real estate and SEO will step up to the forefront to differentiate their products in this complex landscape.
Technorati tag - realtor search lead generation<MLS Realtor real estate search multiple listing service
You know this is an issue near and dear to my heart. In the past several days Ihave recieved calls from a few lead generation companies. Today's caller told that I will only have to pay 150.00 a month for the leads are of the highest quality. Apparently consumers go to this sight and fill out a 4 page survey. How in the world do they get people to do that when most people will not even give out an email address? I think in the end consumers will gravitate toward real people on the internet instead of the gang of lead sellers that offer no value to consumer or agent.
Reply to this